


Cheers

by citrineelephant



Series: Whump Writing Challenge [4]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Poisoning, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25000570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrineelephant/pseuds/citrineelephant
Summary: A drunken night of fun turns into a nightmare.
Series: Whump Writing Challenge [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1809481
Kudos: 7





	Cheers

Zane took another swig of his beer, laughing and smiling with his friends.

“I’ll drink to that,” the operative giggled, taking another drink.

“You’ll drink to anything,” FL4K stated. There was almost a smile in their voice.

“Shut up,” Zane nudged the bot with his elbow.

The operative sat his drink down and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Amara smiled up at him. 

“Gotta take a piss,” Zane said before walking off.

///

The night went on with the Vault Hunters getting more and more drunk. Soon, it was time to return to the ship.

Zane was singing, loudly, having had his arms slung over the shoulders of the Siren and the soldier. FL4K watched quietly as they all walked out of the bar. 

“What a night!” the operative stopped his singing to yell even louder.

Amara was flushed, “Hell yeah.”

“I’m gonna…” Moze looked green in the face.

Through their drunken stupor, they others did not notice until she threw up all over the operative’s shirt.

“Oh, Moze!” Zane’s joy was broken as he looked down at himself, seeing the disgusting chunks of.. He was not sure, “You.. You silly feck!” 

“Sorry…” the sickened soldier wiped at her mouth, her face twisting in disgust.

“Ah, lass, it’s…” the operative hiccuped, “You’re fine.”

“Are you sure? I chucked all over you…” Moze swayed on her feet.

“Hush your face!” Zane’s joy was back, “Let’s just… Let’s just get up to Sanctuary.”

///  
Zane stripped his clothes off, tossing them aside to wash later. God it smelled awful. What did that girl have?

He was not judging. Shit happened. As he entered the shower and turned on the water, he noticed something felt a little off. 

Zane felt drunk. He knew he was. But there was something else. His head was spinning and suddenly…

Suddenly his stomach was in knots.

Zane fell to the floor of the shower, groaning and hissing loudly. His arms wrapped around his abdomen.

Oh god, what was that?

The operative felt his stomach ease, then the pain returned with a hatred. He felt sick. Way too sick. The vomit just came out of his mouth. 

No, no, something was wrong. This was not normal.

What had he eaten? His mind raced along with his heart. He could not think. 

Zane reached an arm up to the side of the shower, a vain attempt to pull himself up, but he could not. 

Then he realized. He had this happen before. He was just too drunk to recall right away.

He had been poisoned. 

///

“Are you okay?” FL4K looked towards the Siren with concern in their eye.

“Something…” Amara began, “Something’s wrong…”

The Siren swayed on her feet before falling to the ground, blacking out. 

“Amara? Amara!” the beastmaster called, crouching towards their friend, “If this is what drinking is like, I’m glad I can’t get drunk…” 

Soon, Moze stumbled from her room. 

“Call Tannis down. Now!” Red stained her lips as blood trickled down her chin.

The soldier fell as well.

FL4K realized that something was wrong. Really wrong. They immediately rushed from the room and headed for the infirmary.

///

“It appears they have all been poisoned. Presumably on their little drunken escapade,” the Sirentologist motioned towards the three incapaciated Vault Hunters with a very matter-of-fact tone. 

“Are they going to be okay?” FL4K asked, concern in their voice.

“Well, maybe. It depends on how much they have had to drink, assuming that is how the poison got into their bodies,” Tannis replied.

“Zane had the most. Moze had the least,” FL4K looked towards them.

The soldier was awake, grasping onto her stomach. The Siren and the operative were out cold. 

“Of course he did,” the scientist almost chuckled. 

FL4K felt a little weary about her reaction, but they knew she meant nothing by it. 

“What do we do now?” they asked.

“We wait and see if they recover. I’ve already done all I can do.”

///

FL4K and their pet skag, Mr. Chew waited in the infirmary, watching over the three other Vault Hunters. This was their pack. Losing them was not an option. 

But what could they do?

Then a noise.

FL4K looked up to catch the beginning of Zane’s thrashing. 

“What’s happening?” Moze groaned, turning towards the direction of the sounds.  
Zane’s body was seizing. 

“Zane!?” the soldier yelled, sitting up in the gurney and looking towards the beastmaster, “Do something!”

FL4K felt panic. They had no idea what to do, but they stood up and rushed for the man.

“Don’t do anything!” Tannis yelled from behind, “Let it happen.”

“But-” FL4K began.

“You could hurt him.”

But with that, his body fell limp again. Zane was still out cold.

///

Amara’s eyes fluttered open and a groan escaped her lips. 

“What happened?” she hissed, sitting up in the bed.

Tannis spoke up, “You were poisoned. It looks like you have survived. Congratulations on your incredible survival!”

“Poisoned?” the Siren’s eyes widened as she prepared to stand, finding that despite the adrenaline in her veins, her body was far too weak.

“Yes, you and your friends, minus the distractingly attractive robot, have all been poisoned. I think i have tracked the source of-” Tannis was cut off.

“Who did this and where is the son of a bitch?” Amara demanded

“... As I was saying, I believe the source comes from the Hyperion corporation. It appears Zane was the target.”

“Zane?” the Siren looked over to the man laying unconscious in the bed near to her, “Zane!”

“He cannot hear you, Amara. He has been out for days. And it looks like he might not recover,” the Sirentologist spoke plainly.

“What do you mean ‘might not recover’?” the Siren spat.

“I mean that he has been given a dose far larger than you and Moze had been given. The alcohol was laced with a very rare plant from the depths of Pandora. It was a fascinating study,” the smile on Tannis’ face was not out of malice, but mere curiosity and joy in her research.

///

Two weeks and the man had not woken up. Zane’s friends sat in the infirmary waiting for any sign of life. They could not help the pang of anxiety they all felt. The dread.

“Come on, you drunken bastard, wake up,” Amara muttered, holding the man’s hand in her own.

Nothing. No sign of him ever waking up.

“Come on…” the Siren breathed, her tattoos coming to life with iridescence.

Moze perked up, eyes catching sight of the light coming from the woman, “What are you doing?”

“Trying… Something…” Amara did not seem too confident. 

But soon, she felt Zane’s hand twitch. And then it twitched again.

“Zane?” the Siren’s eyes widened and a smile crossed her face, “I think it’s working!”

Then it happened. The operative’s eyes came open, slowly. 

“Zane!” Amara yelled, unable to hold back her excitement and squeezing tighter on his hand. 

The man blinked, but there was something wrong. The Siren watched as his eyes went from groggy, to shock, to suddenly glazing over.

“No… no, no!” the Siren yelled, grabbing his shoulders as she watched the light leave the operative’s eyes, “Don’t do this, you son of a bitch!”

The operative did not respond. His body was limp, his eyes staring blankly past her. 

“Tannis!” Amara called, “Tannis get in here! Tannis!”


End file.
